How To Track Hours for the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge

Getting outside for 1000 hours in a year is a big goal! There are common questions like: What’s the daily average? How to track hours for the 1000 Hours Outside challenge? What hours “count” for this challenge? What is the 1000 Hours Outside monthly breakdown? How do you add up time outside over days, weeks, and months? Let’s break it down and answer all your questions so you can get started tracking your time outside!

How Many Hours a Day is 1000 Hours Outside?

1000 hours outside in a year breaks down 2.74 hours per day for 365 days. That’s 2 hours, 44 minutes, and 12 seconds a day precisely. But here’s the good news: you don’t have to be precise! Even aiming for 2 hours and 45 minutes (we’ll just round up for the sake of simplicity), isn’t always realistic. Whether extreme weather or just the logistics of daily life, almost 3 hours a day isn’t always possible for everyone in every circumstance and climate.

Check out my post How to Do the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge: How We Did It in 11 Months if you’re needing some more guidance.

Depending on where you live and the climate, the daily average will most likely vary by month. That’s okay and often necessary! We’re supposed to adapt to the seasons. Here’s an example of the schedule we’ll be following this year, broken down into daily averages by month.

How To Track Hours for the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge

Before we dive in how to track hours for the 1000 Hours Outside challenge, let’s briefly discuss how to do the challenge. Tracking hours is just one part.

How to Do the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge: Step by Step

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with 1000 Hours Outside business. The following content is not endorsed or promoted by the 1000 Hours Outside movement. I’m simply sharing our personal experience with this challenge in hopes to help others.

What Counts as Outside for 1000 Hours Outside?

Maybe this seems straightforward to you, maybe it doesn’t. But the 1000 Hours Outside challenge is all about being outside. So being outside counts as outside. Some people disagree what “counts” as being outside. If you join the 1000 Hours Outside Facebook group you will quickly see there is a LOT of debate about “what counts” as being outside aka “what’s worthy.”

Is sleeping in a tent being outside? What about a covered porch? What about a barn with the doors open? There are technically no rules, so it’s up to each family to decide what is going to count as outside time.

For us, outside is simply outside. We don’t count hours in a camper or tent. Under a roof (like in a shelter house in a park) is still considered outside for us, but if there are walls, we don’t count that. This is actually a big debate and you can decide for yourself what “counts” as outside for your family.

WHAT HOURS TO TRACK can be individualized for each family. You can count each family member’s outside time individually, as a whole group, just the kids– it’s up to you!

How to Track Hours for 1000 Hours Outside:

This is where the fun begins! Simply get outside and record the time spent outside. Recording time can be done many ways but some are easier than others.

The simplest and easiest way I found to keep track of hours was by using the 1000 Hours Outside mobile app (available for iOS and Android). It’s a membership format and you pay $3.99 per month or $29.99 for the first year to be able to use all the functions on the app. The timer function makes it easy to start/stop when we go outside and came back inside. It also adds the hours up for you and keeps a running yearly total, as well as weekly and monthly hours totals. You can earn badges that mark milestones like reaching 100, 200, or 500 hours to it’s easy to keep track of progress.

Other (Free) Options for Tracking Hours:

• Use a timer app like iHour (for iOS users) or Simple Time Tracker (Android).
• Use the stopwatch feature on your smartphone and write down the time in your phone’s notes app or on a piece of paper. Add up the total weekly.
• Hang a paper calendar by the door most used to go outside and write down the time as you go outside and the time as you come back inside. Add up daily and weekly totals.

Everyone is different and will be tracking in different ways for different members of their family, their whole family, or themselves. Don’t overthink it! Pick a method you can commit to and it will become second nature.

How to Keep a Running Total of Hours: 1000 Hours Outside Trackers

HOW TO KEEP A RUNNING TOTAL OF HOURS may be a trickiest part of this recording time spent on this challenge. The good news is there is an easy way to keep track of progress and have a visual for time spent outside. There are FREE PRINTABLE TRACKERS available on the 1000 Hours Outside website.

There are so many fun ones to choose from! Simply print out a tracker, hang it somewhere easily accessible, and color it in to keep track of your running total of hours. A fun way to break it up is to use a different color pencil or marker for each month. By the end of the year, you will have a visual of your 1000 hours broken down by each month.

Check out the official 1000 Hours Outside free printable trackers HERE!

Here’s what our tracker looked like at the end of the year. I would record our daily hours in the 1000 Hours Outside app and then color in the tracker at the end of the month with that month’s total.

1000 Hours Outside Monthly Breakdown

You may want to use the 1000 Hours Outside monthly breakdowns found at the 1000 Hours Outside Instagram account for either harsh winters or harsh summers. Have both? This is the breakdown we’ll be using in the future because the weather here in the Midwest can be so unpredictable.

Print your own monthly breakdown HERE.

You’re All Set!

Now you have the rundown of how to track hours for the 1000 Hours Outside challenge, a sample of a yearly breakdown of the monthly averages, and how to keep track of the daily, weekly, and monthly totals with a tracker. You’re ready to start tracking those 1000 Hours Outside!

And remember, the best part about this challenge is that if you’re making an effort, there really isn’t any way to fail! 1000 hours is simply a clear goal. Any time spent outside is valuable.

See you out there!

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